WASHINGTON—Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe hosted an education and workforce cyber event last week as part of a series of roundtables highlighting his National Governors Association (NGA) chair’s initiative, Meet the Threat: States Confront the Cyber Challenge.
The roundtable was hosted at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Virginia, and brought together 40 cyber and education experts, which included college presidents, education organization leaders and cybersecurity industry CEOs. The discussion focused on ways that states, universities, and the private sector can work together to promote cybersecurity education, enhance workforce development, and protect valuable intellectual property.
“Since the beginning of my administration, I have focused on protecting the commonwealth from cyber attacks, including high-risk targets like schools, as well as improving and investing in our critical cyber workforce,” Gov. McAuliffe said. “With thousands of high-paying, new jobs to fill in this sector, it is imperative that our workforce programs are adequately training Virginians in cyber fields to meet the needs of our new Virginia economy. These roundtables are critical to my chair’s initiative to hear firsthand from the public and private sector on the gaps and opportunities that exist for states in addressing cyber attacks.
Meet the Threat places states at the center of finding solutions to the increasingly sophisticated cyber threats facing the nation. The initiative’s primary goal is for states to develop strategies for strengthening cybersecurity practices as they relate to state IT networks, health care, education, public safety, energy, transportation, critical infrastructure, economic development and the workforce.
The next roundtable will be later this month in Newport News, Virginia, and will focus on cybersecurity and critical infrastructure. In October, more than 20 states will convene in Boston, Massachusetts, for Meet the Threat’s first of two regional summits. At that meeting, state teams will hear from cyber experts and each state team will have an opportunity to form actionable policy recommendations.